Skin Deep

She stared down at him. He meant what he said. “You called me babe, again.”

He poked her in the knee. “I guess I did. Now, I’m going to leave and get ready for work. You are going to finish your coffee, take a hot shower, and remember you’re one of the good guys. Got it?”

His sincerity touched her. “Got it.”

He leaned on her knee as he stood. “I’ll see you later then.”

She stared at the empty doorway long after he left. Intellectually, she knew he was right. Emotionally was harder. She spent so much time hiding her emotions from other people, it had become ingrained. Liam, whom she thought a friend, had proved it to her. Mariel was her most complete persona, and yet Liam had no idea whether to trust her. She’d thought he did. She thought she had created a personality for Mariel that no one would doubt. But somehow, she missed the wall she put up for the persona. She realized that wall was part of all her personas and had become a part of herself. It had become so natural, she didn’t even see she had walled off herself. That had to change. She couldn’t do it anymore.

She sighed and dropped her head back to stare at the ceiling. A vacation was in order, maybe even a leave of absence to sort through her feelings. The world wouldn’t end without her. And if it did, a tropical beach wouldn’t be the worst place to be.

CHAPTER 26

IN THE VAULT’S lobby, Laura felt like an out-of-her-league naif waiting for a no-show date. The Janice persona’s plain-Jane business suit puckered at the waist and shoulders and screamed off-the-rack discount store. The appearance was intentional, of course. Laura had designed Janice to appear less than sophisticated and out of her depth. The Vault was the perfect place to emphasize it. Well-heeled customers filed past her without a second look.

Businesspeople filtered in as the younger crowd moved elsewhere for the night. The bar area became quieter, though no less full as midlevel bureaucrats settled in to have a quiet drink with industry allies.

Blume was late. She didn’t expect anything more from him. People of a certain power level worked their own schedule, skimming through their appointments with an unspoken hierarchy of importance. Everyone was on time for the president of the United States or a senator or certain CEOs. A police officer looking for side work was kept waiting.

She watched the faces of the clientele and considered their emotional states. They hid their true feelings as much as she did, only instead of glamours, theirs were practiced facial expressions. The avid, interested look of a lobbyist hid contempt for the politician in front of her; the bright, friendly smile of an assistant director hid anxiety about his job status; the obvious upset of a congressman hid the cold calculation of strategic maneuvering. All masks of one kind or another, attempts to hide or betray the truth to further goals.

Gia

“In other people, I guess,” she said.

Gia

He walked into the bar. “Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer. She followed him to a corridor in back that led to a wood-paneled elevator door. Gia

The doors opened onto a quiet office corridor lined with closed doors. Laura took note of the security camera tucked into the corner of the ceiling and another at the far end. She followed Gia

The first thing that Laura noticed about Tylo Blume’s office was the odor. A musty burnt tang permeated the room, the aftereffect of burning incense. Laura detected the essence of juniper, cedar, and elm. Elves used incense in spells for protection from negative forces during chanting as well as for inspiration during meditation. Blume sat behind an antique desk, a mahogany Victorian. An Art Deco lamp illuminated a dull, worn leather surface that was clear of clutter. The elf read a document, its paper a brilliant white under the lamp. “Officer Crawford, I’m pleased you agreed to come.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Why I’m pleased or why you came?”

Laura frowned. “Both.”

“You came because you need money. I’m pleased because I need help. Your employment will solve both our problems,” he said.

She sensed truth in his words but didn’t see the point. “Why do you need my help?”

He peered at her from the dimness beyond the desk lamp. “I need a druid on staff.”

“And Corman Deegan shot you down.”

Blume nodded. “Yes. We did not have mutual needs.”

“Why me?”

Blume glanced at Gia

“So if I’m no match, what do you need me for? Hire someone with power.”

He smiled. “That I can do. What I can’t do is be assured of someone’s fortitude, of the commitment to a task. I need someone who will put herself on the line and follow through despite personal jeopardy. You’ve proved you can do that.”

She nodded. “For the right reason. Money isn’t always the right reason.”

His lips quirked in amusement. “True. The reason has to come first, not the money. I can provide you with an opportunity to help me ensure a better future for the world.”

“Sounds like political bullshit,” she said.

He chuckled. “If this is an example of your interview skills, I am not surprised at your lack of work.”

“I asked for a job, Blume, not a lecture. Give me a reason not to walk out of here.”

He nodded. “I have many businesses and many friends. We hope to bring our abilities together to end the strife between human and fey, even between the Celtic and the Teutonic fey. Some of our ideas will be perceived as radical. We need protection from people who might seek aggressive means to stop us.”

She forced herself to smirk. “You think you can accomplish what High Queen Maeve and the Elvenking have been trying to do for a hundred years?”

He stared directly into her eyes. “Yes. Do you think that’s enough motivation to keep what you see and hear to yourself?”

She suppressed a shiver. He believed he could do it. “Sure. More power to you.”

He nodded. “You have a job.”

“I have one condition,” she said.

“Name it.”

“I’m not a merc. I won’t kill someone on orders.”

“I wouldn’t ask that,” he said.

She had a moment of confusion. He wasn’t lying. Gia

“I’m in,” she said.